I am writing you today to share about my latest trip to your downtown San Diego Office Depot store, #934 I believe. I regret not hanging onto the receipt from this transaction, but perhaps you can look it up in your point of sale system as I paid by way of my Visa card.
All I was buying this go around was an 80 sheet wide ruled 1-subject notebook, black in color. When I was waiting in line to be assisted by the cashier, I spotted two other employees that were wandering around behind the counters, cleaning or tending to some other tasks that didn't seem to be customer oriented. This didn't resonate with me until after I had left your store, mildly annoyed.
I was called forward after two minutes to have my transaction rung up. She scanned in the notebook and told me it'd be $2.82, which is when I swiped my Visa check card on the electronic signature pad. It prompted me for my PIN, and so I hit cancel as is often the case if one wishes to process the transaction as a credit. I said to the cashier that I wished to complete the transaction as a credit, so she told me to swipe my card again. I did, and it prompted me for my PIN... I told this to the cashier. The cashier leaned over the counter and looked at the signature pad... and she just kind of stared at it for a few seconds.
She declared, "You have to put in your PIN number."
I responded, "No, I shouldn't have to. You should be able to run this through as credit."
"We can't do that, it has to have your PIN."
So I asked, "Are you going to pay for the ATM fee my bank charges?"
Mind you, this was a very calm exchange, nothing heated about it... but you think a business supply store would have its financial processes down a bit better. One of the other employees had to come over and finalize the transaction, closed out as a Visa charge against my check card, no PIN required. C'mon, Office Depot...
Maybe I'm making a big deal out of a small issue, but I did want to bring it to your attention.
Sincerely,
Daniel
